Happy Thanksgi – Oh Why Did You Spill That!

Thanksgiving and Christmas are barreling down us like a demented turkey riding a reindeer. Soon we’ll be attending and throwing seasonal parties, meeting old friends, and greeting family. In all of this we’ll be eating, drinking, and generally making merry, but one problem with all of this merry is the unfortunate consequences it can have on our carpet. Too many people are holding too many glasses of punch and as soon as they bump someone else, the drink will go flying. Or if it’s food your dealing with, that chutney covered cracker can quickly fall to the carpet, making a new stain.

So how do you deal with the problems that Turkey Day and Christmas/Hanukkah? Well, there are several ways to help keep your home clean and the first and here they are:

1.) Coverage:
A lot of guests means a lot of people holding food and drinks, but they rarely spread themselves evenly about the home. Often the food-bearers end up in concentrated areas or just in one room. Sometimes this is in front of the television or right in front of the fire. Now, the easiest, albeit less fun way to keep people in one area (and therefore keeping spills to one area) is to simply ask everyone to stay put. Good luck with that. The next best thing is to figure out where the people will go. People will like the fireplace, television, or areas with comfortable seats. In these areas, an area rug would be a wise choice.
2.) Foot-Covers
No, I’m not recommending you buy those little booties and have your guests put them on. Because, as great as that sounds, it would be time consuming and, int the end, a waste. Another much more logical option is to ask people to remove their shoes when they arrive but to leave their socks on. This prevents any dirt from the soles of their shoes getting ground into the carpet. Of course, if they’re not wearing socks or stockings, it’s better to leave clean shoes on. The oils on a persons feet are bad for carpets and can make them more susceptible to dirt.
3.) Containment
Drinking red wine over your white carpets? Taking that cranberry spread over the nice area rug? Those are the things that greatly increase your chance of needing to hire a carpet cleaning company. And While Oxi FreshCarpet Cleaning is glad to help you remove such stains, we’d rather help you prevent them. When your serving foods with a high staining potential, do what you can to serve them in rooms with hard wood or tile floors and encourage people to eat those foods in there.
4.) Blot!
If someone does end up spilling during the dinner or party – whether it be soda, wine, or punch – remember to blot it up as soon as you possibly can. Don’t pour water on it to “fade” it, as you’ll just be spreading it out. Instead, get some paper towels and start soaking up the spill as soon as possible. There’s not much else to this tip, but it’s the most important one when it comes to dealing with stains.
5.) After-Party
So the parties over, the turkey’s gone, the snacks eaten, and there’s nothing much else left to do – save for vacuuming. As much as you want to relax from your hosting duties, you shouldn’t quite yet. Rather then letting the dirt and crumbs sit in your carpet for hours and hours – giving them a better chance to become a stain – break out the vacuum and give your carpet a through cleaning. Go over it both horizontally and vertically so as to get rid of everything you can. Once your done with that, relax and start panning the next party. And if the worse comes to the worst, remember our fast drying carpet cleaning and give us a call!